(Added Wednesday night: Full unedited video of meeting)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

On a day bookended by two gunfire incidents in West Seattle, leaders from the Seattle Police Gun Violence Reduction Unit happened to be among the guests at the quarterly Southwest Precinct Advisory Council meeting.

Lt. Sean Moore and Sgt. Jeffrey Page acknowledged it probably isn’t much comfort for those directly affected by gunfire incidents to hear that citywide, “shots fired” calls are down.

But they said the 15 detectives and two sergeants in the unit “are out there every day trying to find the people responsible for this violence.” They briefly mentioned high-profile West Seattle incidents such as the person reported to have pointed a gun at a Madison Middle School staffer last week. “We will arrest them and hold them accountable,” the GRVU team insisted.

They can’t do it without community information, however, they said – “we need your help, we need your eyes and ears, we need your private video.” And they urged people to use the SPD violent-crime tipline, 206-233-5000, anonymously if necessary.

GVRU is one of the followup units with which the Southwest Precinct is collaborating, precinct commander Capt. Krista Bair told the ~50 people gathered at Neighborhood House High Point. The others include the Narcotics and Robbery Units, she added, while reiterating that community collaboration is just as important.

Some categories of crime are down significantly, precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Satterwhite – who organized the meeting along with the SWPAC’s community lead Ella McRae – said. Year to year, auto theft in the precinct area (West Seattle and South Park)is down 37 percent, while burglary is down 40 percent.

After stats, the meeting moved on to what was originally to be a panel discussion – City Attorney Ann Davison canceled at the last minute and City Council President Sara Nelson arrived 25 minutes into the meeting (explaining that she had been napping and overslept), so Natalie Walton-Anderson – who is public-safety chief for Mayor Bruce Harrell – was alone to field initial questions.

The questions began with some submitted in advance. Police staffing was the first, and Walton-Anderson noted the recent recruiting success: “I always like to give hope and optimism – our hiring numbers continue to break records; we’re averaging 12 applicants every day.” But that won’t be reflected in numbers of officers on the street before fall, since the hiring and training process is time-consuming. “I know people are tired of waiting.”

What can city and county prosecutors do about gun violence? Walton-Anderson noted she has worked for both those departments. “Gun laws need to be addressed at the state and federal level … an influx of guns continues to come into our community.” But she said it’s also about working with youth, from mentors to “violence interrupters.” Regarding what seems like a “revolving door” of people through the criminal-justice system, she said, “Those are questions I’ve been asking for 28 years … in terms of repeat offenders, we should hold people accountable but if we don’t get to the underlying reasons,” things won’t change. Asked what specific laws need to change, she declined to make suggestions.

She did talk about the 911 and non-emergency-number system, which she’d been asked about in a previous forum. She mentioned some recent changes – for example, in mid-May, the CARE Department – which includes 911 – “went live with a new phone tree to try to direct calls such as parking enforcement.” And as of the start of this month, CARE is staffing a dedicated non-emergency calltaker during “peak hours, 7 days a week, 11 am to 7 pm.” That doesn’t mean the non-emergency number won’t be answered at other times, she said, but it increases the chances you’ll reach someone during those “peak hours.”

However, she warned, 911 still has 14 vacancies “and that’s a lot.” It’ll be reduced soon with a new class of seven people emerging, however. She added that any calls that haven’t been dispatched for an extended period of time are being “re-broadcast” (we’ve heard this while monitoring police radio).

(Council President Sara Nelson, Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Satterwhite, SW Precinct Capt. Krista Bair)

That’s when council president Nelson arrived. The citywide councilmember (who’s running for re-election this fall) insisted the council is “laser-focused on public safety” while acknowledging “that’s not enough.” She said a major role of the council is oversight, and the recent report on gun-violence trends was an example. Meantime, “We’re trying to do our job by passing laws but progress is too slow – apologizing to the community is inappropriate right now, so we just have to acknowledge we have a long way to go.”

When the floor was opened to “live” Q&A shortly after that, she was asked if the council will try again to fund the gunshot-detector technology that the mayor decided not to pursue. Nelson said she was “100 percent for it.” Walton-Anderson declared that “we need all the technological help we can get” and said that technology already in use has “resulted in so many incredible outcomes.” That includes the newly implemented Real-Time Crime Center and closed-circuit cameras installed in three areas of the city (none in the SW Precinct yet, and the panelists said this area hadn’t yet been “identified” as a priority). The camera usage had helped solve an auto theft, for example, she added, and Nelson noted that while some might not consider auto theft mega-important, “the problem is that the stolen cars are being used for much-greater crimes,” like crash-and-grab burglaries.

Next question was about the North Delridge gunfire incident earlier in the day; Capt. Bair said she didn’t have up-to-date details but last she had heard, SPD was “working on a warrant” for a related search. (Our story had followup information earlier in the evening that the one person initially reported as “detained” was indeed eventually arrested and booked into jail.)

Will the police-hiring success mean more officers for the Southwest Precinct? Capt. Bair couldn’t say for sure but did note yet another departmental change – when new recruits leave the academy, they are usually “sprinkled around” the department, but next time “we’re going to take all five and put them in one precinct – it’ll be more impactful.” She didn’t know which precinct that would be, however.

An attendee who said her children were impacted by two recent incidents that led to schools sheltering in place asked, “How are we going to prioritize West Seattle?” Walton-Anderson, noting that she had a child affected by one of those recent incidents too, countered, “How are we going to prioritize ALL our kids?” She exhorted support for youth mental health and more city partnership with schools on safety programs. “More police, yes, but also, (programs like) Community Passageways” are needed.

Walton-Anderson had to depart at 7:30, with a half-hour left, so Nelson became the lone panelist (along with SPD personnel, including the GVRU leaders, Capt. Bair, and the precinct’s second-in-command Operations Lt. Nate Shopay).

Another attendee had more of a comment than a question, saying that three gunfire incidents have happened in her High Point neighborhood and she’s worried about youth who know who’s to blame but aren’t talking. She’s also worried that there’s no safe place for kids to play. McRae, who works as a community builder in HP, said there actually are a lot of options for play.

Regarding patrols to prevent crime, Lt. Shopay said that by mid-summer, some bicycle patroling would be back, focused on “directed patrol” emphasis areas such as Alki Beach and Westwood Village. (Officers won’t be riding to those spots from the precinct, though – they have to be able to “get back in their cars” quickly if other events dictate.) And he said “directed patrols” do include side streets, not just arterials.

A South Park representative reminded Lt. Shopay that SP would like bike patrols, too.

Are police monitoring social media to find out what’s planned for street-racing type events? one attendee then asked.

Capt. Bair said yes, the department is “scouring” social media and “often” knows when there’s going to be a gathering.
Overall, she insisted, “we’re doing everything we can.” There’s regional intel-sharing too, since often these gatherings move from city to city, not just neighborhood to neighborhood.

The precinct’s public-safety liaison from the City Attorney’s Office, Rachel Wang,, said some new racing-related regulations are on the books and could result in tickets – “participation” and “attendance at races.”

Then the question emerged again: What can be done about gun violence? Nelson promised to introduce “some policies” by year’s end, without getting specific.

Various other frustrations were expressed before the meeting ended. An attendee expressed frustration at trying to contact police with video of a reckless driver, saying the 911 calltaker told him they couldn’t do anything because no one got hurt. Capt. Bair apologized, saying that’s not the kind of reception she would have hoped for – the situation “sounds like a 911 call to me.” Others asked whether police were enforcing the lack of plates, or plates with tinted covers, or windows tinted too darkly. Capt. Bair said police are “doing what we can” – but she had to be honest, higher-priority violations take precedence.

Another attendee asked for clarification regarding the 206-233-5000 tipline. “Violent crimes,” said the GVRU commmander Lt. Moore. A legislative assistant accompanying Council President Nelson said that for non-urgent, low-level situations, Find It Fix It might be appropriate.

The meeting ran a bit overtime, and many participants stayed on for one-on-one conversations. Watch for the next quarterly meeting to be announced when the date, time, and location are set; you’ll also see Satterwhite and other SPD reps at many major summer events, including Night Out on August 5.